Effect on the SA
Check-list:This proposal, if adopted, would change
the English name of a species on our checklist to a previously established
name.This is one of several short
proposals dealing with recent changes in English names of various species of
parrots and parakeets.

Background:Cory (1918)
applied the name of “Blue-fronted Parrot” to the nominate subspecies of Amazona aestiva, using the English name
of “Yellow-winged Parrot” for the subspecies A. a. xanthopteryx.Meyer de Schauensee (1966, 1970, 1982), in his foundational
classification of South American birds, used the English name of
Turquoise-fronted Parrot for Amazona
aestiva.I do not know if that
marked the first use of “Turquoise-fronted,” but that name remained the
standard during the modern era of Neotropical ornithology at least until 1990;
it was still used by Gill and Wright (2006).However, virtually every other recent
authority (e.g. Collar 1997, Juniper and Parr 1998, Clements 2000, Forshaw
2010) has switched to “Blue-fronted” Parrot/Amazon.I’m not clear where the switch back to
Cory’s original name originated (possibly with Sibley and Monroe 1990), or why,
but it seems to have taken over, and “Blue-fronted Parrot” is the name used in
the Howard-Moore checklist (Dickinson 2003) that provided our base list for the
SACC.

Analysis:Unlike many of
the name-hijackings that have occurred among South American birds through the
popular literature, the replacement of “Turquoise-fronted” with “Blue-fronted”
does not represent an improvement in the sense of replacing a poor or
inappropriate name with one that is more descriptive.In this case, an established name
(Turquoise-fronted) has been replaced with a much older name that is neither
simpler, nor more descriptive, and that is arguably misleading.

The name “Turquoise-fronted
Parrot” refers to the color of the forehead (and, to a lesser extent, the
foreface).Different observers will
perceive colors in different ways, but none of the many aestiva that I have seen had the forehead truly blue.Instead, all of the adults at least,
appear to have the forehead and foreface distinctly bluish-green or
greenish-blue (immature birds are usually just green on the forehead).Numerous on-line dictionaries define the
color turquoise as being like that of the semi-precious stone of the same name,
and go on to describe this color variously as “bluish-green, sky-blue,
greenish-blue, or greenish-gray”.Feel free to reference any photos of aestiva
on-line at WikiAves (http://www.wikiaves.com.br/) to check forehead color.I would argue that the modifier
“turquoise” is more accurately descriptive than is the modifier “blue” in
describing the forehead color of aestiva.

Furthermore, the use of the
modifier “turquoise” is unique among South American psittacids to Amazona aestiva, making the name
Turquoise-fronted Parrot not only more accurately descriptive, but also more
memorable.Conversely, there are 11
species of psittacids (not including aestiva)
on our checklist that employ “blue” as part of the modifier of the English name
(blue-crowned, blue-cheeked, blue-throated, blue-headed, blue-winged,
blue-bellied, blue-and-yellow, and blue-fronted), and in most of these
(including aestiva), “blue” modifies
some part of the head, face or throat, which only serves to make the names
potentially more confusing.

The argument can be made that
“Blue-fronted Parrot” is a more established name than “Turquoise-fronted
Parrot”, since it dates back at least to Cory (1918).However, given the miniscule number of
ornithologists or birders dealing with Amazona
aestiva prior to Meyer de Schauensee (1966, 1970), I think it is fair to
say that “Turquoise-fronted Parrot” was actually the more familiar name of the
two, prior to the recent attempts to resurrect the older name.

Recommendation:I recommend a
“YES” vote for restoring the Meyer de Schauensee English name of
“Turquoise-fronted Parrot” for Amazona
aestiva.This is a case where a
perfectly good, memorable and descriptive name was replaced by a name that is
less accurately descriptive and more likely to cause confusion due to its
similarity to the names of several other species of parrots, parakeets and
parrotlets.

I would also point out that
English names of parrots in general have been in turmoil, with each new
reference (e.g. Collar 1997, Juniper and Parr 1997, Forshaw 2010) introducing
new names for well-known birds, many of which have not been widely
adapted.And this doesn’t even
include the schizoid split between the various field guides and checklists on
the issue of using “Amazon” versus “Parrot” for Amazona, and “Conure” versus “Parakeet” for Pyrrhura and Aratinga.The result has been a body-punch to
stability, to the extent that very few of the “new” names (some of which are
actually throwbacks to Cory 1918) can really claim to be established, even if
they have been used in several recent references.